1. Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to relates to detection of movement patterns for a handheld device.
2. Information
A wireless device may utilize batteries that can supply power for a finite period of time. If someone brings a wireless device on a vacation and forgets to bring a charger to recharge batteries, for example, such a wireless device may run out of power within a matter of days. This may be an issue for people who need to be available via their wireless devices, such as business travelers. Efficient power consumption for a wireless device may therefore be a critical aspect of a wireless device.
A wireless device may periodically determine its position relative to nearby cell towers. For example, a wireless device, such as a cellular telephone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), for example, may periodically broadcast a wireless signal requesting a response from a cell tower nearby. Upon receipt of a broadcast signal, one or more nearby cell towers may transmit a signal acknowledging receipt of such a broadcast signal. In order to perform such broadcasting and reception of signals, a wireless device may utilize a certain amount of battery power for performing such functions. This process may be problematic if wireless device has a relatively short battery life, as available power may be rapidly consumed.
This process of broadcasting and receiving signals may be useful in the event that such a wireless device is physically moving such that it becomes closer to different cell towers over time as it travels through different sectors or coverage areas. However, in the event that a wireless device remains relatively stationary such as, for example, if a user leaves a wireless device on a nightstand while sleeping for the night, such a wireless device would therefore remain in the same coverage area nearest to the same cell tower. Periodically broadcasting a signal may therefore be unnecessary and wasteful in terms of power consumption in order to determine a closet cell tower.
A determination of whether a mobile device has moved may be also be utilized for other applications, such as detecting a security breach, pet/child/asset tracking, law enforcement, Satellite Positioning System (SPS) duty cycling, or SPS navigation and search aiding.
“Movement detection” refers to detecting a non-negligible change in the center of gravity of an object. This is in contrast to “motion detection,” where an object may fidget without changing its center of mass or position/location. Some applications may provide motion detection algorithms. However, such applications fails to solve a movement detection problem because, for example, they may determine that fidgeting users, such as a users holding an object in an unsteady hand, are “moving,” even though such users may not actually change their positions. Position location techniques such as based on SPS technology can be used to identify a moving user, by simply examining changes in the estimated location. However, such solutions can be expensive in terms of power and cost, and may also be ineffective in various scenarios such as indoors or in urban canyons.